


two former servants

by TopicalAmazon (Animasta)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Ultimate Talent Development Plan (Dangan Ronpa)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 06:29:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13607541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animasta/pseuds/TopicalAmazon
Summary: “Well, maybe… we need to learn to be selfish.”





	two former servants

**Author's Note:**

> Danganronpa has way too little femslash compared to the overwhelming amount of regular slash (much like every other fandom... lol...) so I want to help! I pretty much thought of this pairing because of the scene with them and Ryoma during Ultimate Talent Development Plan so it takes place in that universe. I'm doing a Hiyoko/Mahiru fic rn (mostly focused on the Hiyoko/Mikan relationship tbh) and I also want to figure out how to do a Mikan/Miu fic because I think it would be really funny/horrifying

“You are… an amazing person, Peko. I’ve always known that, I guess.” Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu says quietly, leaning against a tree with forced calmness, “That’s why… I’ve told my family to release you from your contract.”

“Y-Young Master?” Peko Pekoyama recoils violently, almost falling down from her kneeling position close to him, “What… What are you saying?”

It’s only the second day of their last year of high school, and already things are changing drastically. He’s been uncharacteristically quiet these past few weeks, and he’s been in plenty of meetings with his parents. When she asked, he merely shrugged and said it wasn’t much, but he did have a very complicated look on his face whenever he came out.

“It’s shit, okay? The fact that you were raised to be this hitman, my bodyguard. Just because your parents were fucking assholes doesn’t mean we couldn’t have taken you in regularly, you know? Or at least found someone else in the family you could be raised by.” He chuckles sardonically, “I guess it would’ve been better to be raised by a normal family, but I’m pretty selfish.”

She’s shaking, a cold sweat is taking over her body, “W-Why? Why would you do that to me?”

“I’m not DOING anything to you Peko!” He responds angrily, “Look, we’re in our last year of school, right? If you want to come back and work WITH me… WITH ME.” He repeats himself louder, “At the end of the year, of course I wouldn’t say no. Just… I just want to give you some space to figure out if you… actually want to, you know?”

“Of course I do!”

“You don’t! You don’t even know any other way!” He breathes in through his mouth slowly and starts to calm down, “Look, Peko… I… I… You’re the most important person in the world to me. Without a doubt. I love my sister, I love my parents, I love the family… sometimes,” He chuckles again, in a rougher tone, “I know so much about you, you know so much about me. I… I want to give the opportunity to spread your wings a little.”

She’s not the greatest at reading social situations, but her… Young Master is saying things that lead her to believe he’s telling her he… cares about her a great deal. She cares for him too, loves his secret caring personality. The way he hates milk with a fervent passion. How much he worries about the future of the clan, and whether he can lead it properly. That’s why she’s never once felt like cursing her station in life. She actively WANTS to protect him, to make sure nothing happens to him.

“Look, I’m not saying we… we have to ignore each other, alright?” He clarifies, noticing her anxious face, “I remember telling you that our professional relationship doesn’t exist at this school, but you never REALLY listened beyond calling me Kuzuryu-kun.”

“If… If you think this is best, y- Kuzuryu-kun.” She corrects herself, “I… I accept your terms.”

“I still want you to come back at the end of the year.” He smiles gracefully, standing up and offering her a hand, “Trust me, whatever happens, you’ll always have a place with me. That’s… WITH me, though. Not under me.” His cheeks burn a little in embarrassment, “Well, you know what I mean.”

“Of course.” She nods slowly, accepting his hand, “If… If that’s the case, I must leave.” She needs to talk with someone, the only person at this school that might understand how she’s feeling. Well, there IS Yukizome-sensei, but she’s a teacher. She doesn’t know if she’s ever been… employed like she has.

“Okay. Can we hang out tomorrow, Peko?” He considers something before saying, “I’m not going to make you, mostly because I literally can’t anymore, but you can call me Fuyuhiko.”

“O...Okay… F-F-F-F-Fuyuhiko-kun.” She can’t seem to help adding the honorific, but he looks pleased regardless.

“See you later, okay?” He stands still for a moment, trying to decide something, before walking away.

\------

“P-Pekoyama-san?” Kirumi Tojo says at her disheveled appearance, “Is… May I help you?”

“I… was released from my contract.” She says softly, the permanence of it finally sinking in, “F-Fuyuhiko no longer wanted a… a tool. He will let me come back at the end of the year if I want, but… today? It… It hurts, Tojo-san.”

“Of course it does…” Tojo’s face shifts to the sympathy that she craved, of someone who can understand what it feels like, “Would you like to come in?” She opens the door to her door wider, and shifts aside to let her in.

Tojo-san and her have been friends ever since they met each other, midway through first year. They were… similar people. They both appreciated quiet, so often times they would sit in silence, enjoying tea. Sometimes, she would help Tojo-san with her duties, and despite her not being a domestic worker, she was satisfied with her work. She’d noticed that she treated her differently than everything else. Maybe due to their similar histories?

Peko made her way to the bed, sitting on it and started playing with her hands. Tojo-san came up to her and sat right next to her, arm snaking around her shoulders.

“It’s… ironic, I guess.” Tojo said quietly, after a few moments, “I was… Yukizome-sensei and I recently had a talk about my status as the Ultimate Maid. I guess she knows what it’s like more than anyone else here, but she’s been very insistent that I not allow myself to be… locked in to the title, I suppose?” She rubs Peko’s arm calmly, “She seems to think that I can be more than just a maid. That I’m one of the most amazing students she’s ever taught. I don’t know if that’s the case, but I asked a couple of my classmates and they’ve all said similar things.”

“Really?” Peko asks simply, “I… I could’ve told you that ages ago, Tojo-san.”

“Maybe. Maybe I wasn’t ready to hear it.” She shakes her head ruefully, “I don’t know if they’re right or not. I do enjoy helping others, you know? It makes me proud that people would expect so much of me.” She quiets for a moment before continuing, “Did you know my mother was a maid as well?”

Tojo’s never talked about her family, so she merely shook her head.

“Well, she retired when she was 30. To have me, I guess. I learned fairly early on that the women in our family were trained, raised to be household servants. A holdover from a more regressive time.” She leans her head on to Peko’s shoulder, “She was conflicted for a long time when I was a child, but when I showed that I did enjoy cleaning, she decided to do it as well. Someone else might be resentful, but… She did the best she could with the knowledge she had. Even though she’s retired, she still works in that industry. She trains them, in fact.”

“Ah.” Peko says softly, her earlier worry dissipating due to Tojo’s calming tone and caring hands.

“Still, it’s always made me wonder.” She turns her eyes towards Peko and her face grows worried, “I apologize, Pekoyama-san. I meant to be comforting you, but…”

“Don’t worry, Tojo-san. It’s been very helpful. You’ve been very helpful.” She corrects, her face burning slightly, “We’re both in quite similar boats.”

“Indeed.” Tojo smiles softly, “It’s quite… serendipitous that it’s happened like this, right? Maybe we should work together.”

“Work together? How so?”

“Well, maybe… we need to learn to be selfish.”

\------

It’s been a few weeks since then, and things haven’t changed all that much. You- Fuyuhiko was happy, that she had someone that was going through a similar ordeal, and was very supportive of the endeavor. Even Natsumi-chan, when she was told, gave her a thumbs up. It wasn’t a seamless transition, however. She rarely hung out with her classmates besides Tojo-san without Fuyuhiko, and… she wanted to. She asked Gundham-kun to hang out one weekend, and he was very surprised. Well, she thinks he was? He was going on about the Dark Swordswoman, learning to be a human again after trawling through Hell for so long.

It’d probably be offensive if it came from someone other than Gundham-kun. She’s always been interested in fluffy animals, so she asked if he could help her. They went to the animal shelter Gundham-kun spent a fair amount of time on and she was able to… pet some of the dogs and cats! Some of them weren’t scared of her! SUCH FLUFFY, AMAZ-  
.  
…

She found it quite enjoyable.

After that, Gundham-kun started talking to her, and that led to Owari-san picking up on a social cue (for once) and asking if they could spar. She’d asked her a few times before, but she was always reluctant to do so. She wasn’t nearly as good at hand-to-hand combat, but she’s always been impressed at the control Owari-san had with her body, so she agreed. It was very invigorating, and she’d even been asked to show her some sword techniques.

After that, she was inundated with requests. She was extremely surprised by the amount, and she was confused until she heard from Sonia-san while they were having tea that most of them always wanted to, but they were afraid of getting close to her. Fuyuhiko-kun didn’t do much socializing with the class either, beyond hanging with Hinata-kun (who was an honorary 77-B student anyway) and Nanami-san, mostly because he had a secret love of gaming that he rarely let anyone see.

Her time was mostly spent with Tojo-san, however. She was going through a similar issue, after all, and they both had stories to tell. She and Yukizome-sensei were spending a lot of time, trying to figure out how to keep her in class and not force her to be the Ultimate Maid. She almost turned it down, until she saw how persistent Yukizome-sensei was being. She was also being asked to hang out, which was also fairly surprising to her.

She spent time with Akamatsu-san, Saihara-kun most often, but almost everyone wanted to (beyond Kokichi-kun, but he lied all the time so who knows). However, it was only when she hung out with a few people did she realize… how boring she was. Not that Peko thought so, but she worried about the fact that she didn’t exactly have hobbies. She rarely had time for them before, after all.

It’s not like she was all that different either. Liking cute animals was hardly a hobby, and she mostly just let people decide on what they wanted to do. Of course, it might be a common issue amongst this school… They spend so much time on their talents that they have a hard time divorcing themselves of them. So, because she had no other ideas, she asked Tojo-san to see a movie with her.

“Hmm… it’s not surprising you would want to see this.” She says with a slight smirk as they wait for their movie to play, “You’re quite an old-fashioned person.”

“Perhaps.” They stood in comfortable silence for a long time as the movie played, a period piece about the Edo period. Despite the fact that her life wouldn’t have been comfortable at all, being a woman and all, but she sometimes wondered what it would be like to be a samurai in that time.

“Excuse me for interrupting,” Tojo said after a while during a quieter moment of the movie, “Akamatsu-san brought something up, and I was wondering something… Do you… Do you think we can call each other by our first names?” The theatre was dark and she couldn’t really see Tojo’s face, but she knew right away that it was slightly red in the same way it always was when she made requests.

Her own face burned as she answered, “O...Okay. Kirumi-san.” She said firmly, and she could barely see it, but the smile she got in response was made her feel… very nice.

“Thank you… Peko-san.”

As soon as the movie ended (it was quite good), they decided to head to the food court for sustenance. It was, luckily, not so busy, and they were able to get the food quickly. They ate without talking again, until someone came up to the two of them.

A boy. Just a regular teenage boy you’d see anywhere.

“Hey!” He said excitedly towards… Kirumi-san, face alight with energy, “I’ve never seen you before… Do you come here often?”

Both of them were quiet people, so they both found it awkward to talk to a stranger. Eventually Kirumi-san cleared her throat and shook her head.

“Oh, well. I was wondering, actually, if you’d agree to go on a date with me? I’ve never seen such an enchanting girl before.” He said easily, as though it were completely normal to just ask someone you’ve never met on a date like that.

(Was it? It’s not like she’s been on a date before…)

Kirumi-san was as prim and seemingly in control as ever, but Peko spent enough time with her to realize she was panicking. Her hands were shaking slightly and her ears were twitching. Unfortunately, she was hardly any more socially able enough to extract them from this situation without threatening the boy, which was hardly something she want-

“Oh, we’re on a date together. I apologize.” She said suddenly, reaching to grasp her hands, almost apologizing to the both of them. Peko wouldn’t have come up with that at all, and though it made sense, it almost… it felt really strange. Kirumi-san’s hands were gloved, of course, but even then they made her own hands burn.

“Y-Yes.” Peko choked out, her face burning with embarrassment. 

“Oh no, I’m sorry. I realize it was quite rude of me to come up to you and ask you that.” He bowed slightly, face still smiling (though it seemed a little forced now) and quickly walked back to his table, where his friend seemed to be laughing at him already.

“I… I’m sorry. I couldn’t think of anything else.” Kirumi-san apologized again, “I didn’t want you to threaten the boy.”

“That would almost be offensive… if it wasn’t right.” Peko said quietly, still processing the weird feeling, “I must thank you, Kirumi-san.”

“You’re thanking me for that? Peko-san, you… you…” She’s trying to say something, but she can’t seem to force it out. Her face glows red, and Peko can’t help but think how cute it is.

Wait a minute…

\------

It’s a month later, and she still can’t stop thinking about that day in the mall. They’d gone there a lot in the past few weeks, mostly in silence. They’d never had to pretend to be a couple again after the first time, but… for some reason… it was a little disappointing. She doesn’t know why, it was really awkward. Of course, that strange feeling she felt when she touched Kirumi-san’s gloved hands kept popping up again and again, even when they weren’t touching. When Kirumi-san would hold open a door as they left school, or when she smiled at her after they spent the last couple hours alone together. When a cold front came and she hadn’t realized it, but Kirumi predicted it and brought an extra scarf for her.

She worried. What did it mean? She was hardly one to be introspective of her own feelings, despite her preference for silence. It wasn’t as though she ignored them, but she didn’t know how to process them all the time. She hadn’t really had… friends, as such, before this year. She was quite sheltered, actually. She couldn’t even say any of this to Fuyuhiko-kun. He’d know more than she would, but she was worried about telling him for reasons she couldn’t articulate.

“Pekoyama-san?” Koizumi-san’s voice interrupted her thoughts, “Are you alright? We’re almost finished...”

“Koizumi-san… sorry. We’re supposed to be hanging out, and I’m being a poor friend.” Even as she was sorry, she was still a little excited to be able to call someone a friend.

Koizumi-san asked her if she would come with her. She was looking to take some pictures of foliage and parks in some of the seedier parts of the city, and though she wasn’t worried of being accosted, she would rather be safe than sorry. She enjoyed watching her classmates engage in their talents, plus Koizumi-san was one of her favorites, so she readily agreed. She wasn’t an extrovert, but she still carried the conversation because of how introverted Peko was.

“Something on your mind? I know you’re quiet, but you seemed to be thinking of something.” She smiled knowingly, “For being this aloof, badass swordswoman, you’re quite easy to read sometimes.”

Peko shrugged, “Perhaps I am. I’m just… worried. I don’t quite understand my own feelings sometimes, and there’s been something going on that’s confused me greatly.”

“Oh?”

“Um… please don’t tell anyone else.” She said quickly, “I… I’m having weird feelings for Kirumi-san.”

“Weird?” Koizumi tilted her head, “Like, what?”

“I don’t know… Sometimes when we’re together, I feel a strange feeling in my belly. It’s nice… but I have no idea what it is. You know how sheltered I’ve been, and I’ve never been taught how to process emotions properly.”

“Oh!” Her eyes light with understanding, “Are you… attracted to her?”

“Attracted?” Surely it wasn’t that, right? She was in love with Fuyuhiko…

“Yeah. I get it.” She shrugs, “It’s really confusing, feeling feelings for another girl. When I realized I was attracted to Hiyoko-chan, it took me quite a while to process. After all, we’re supposed to be attracted to men, right?” She sniffed angrily, “Not that anyone would understand if you aren’t.”

“I’m…” Peko wanted to say, ‘attracted to men’, but was it true? Or more importantly, was it wholly true?

“You can be attracted to both, you know.” She smiled understandingly, “I mean, Hinata-kun’s been having trouble figuring out if he should ask out Nanami-san or Komaeda-kun. I mean, I think there’s a clear answer to that statement…” Her disdain for Komaeda-kun was hardly the only one, and even she had trouble coming up with something she actually LIKED about him, “Well, it’s hard to ignore your feelings sometimes. Even if you don’t know what they are.”

“So, I’m attracted to her?” Peko asks, rolling her head slowly from side to side, “Is that really it?”

“Well, I don’t know.” She answers unsatisfyingly, “I’m not you, so I can only compare your response to my response. Considering how uncommon it is in society, it’s not something you would automatically think of. I mean, we can’t tell anyone about our relationship. It’d ruin her career. Even if mine is pretty safe… well, Japan isn’t the greatest for this kinda stuff, right?” She rolls her eyes, “Well, that’s not really important. Tojo-san and you are pretty quiet, subtle people. You can totally make it work, if you want.”

“Do… I want that?” She asks quietly, not exactly to Koizumi-san but of herself, “I don’t… know. I thought I loved Fuyuhiko…”

“Well, you have time, you know?” She smiles softly, “It’s not even Christmas yet. Process your own feelings on your own time, and don’t make a rushed decision if you feel strongly about both. You owe it to both of them if you care about them that much.”

“T-Thank you, Koizumi-san.” She even bows, “You’ve been very helpful.”

“Aww, come on you’re embarrassing me.” Her face glows red, “Now come on, let’s get OUT of here! I don’t want to press my luck.” They left hurriedly, though Peko was pretty distracted the whole way back to their dorm.

\-------

It wasn’t until February that anything actually happened, one way or the other. She spent most of her time with Kirumi-san or Fuyuhiko-kun, trying to figure out what she actually wanted. Even if she didn’t have a chance with either, but she wanted to make the decision by herself. So she spent a lot of time with both of them, and spent a lot of time examining how she felt. She felt so comfortable with Fuyuhiko-kun; his suggestion, one that she hated at the time, was the right move. It felt like they were, if not equals, then contemporaries? It felt like she saw him for the first time, and she only loved him even more.

When she spent time with Kirumi-san, she felt that strange feeling that Koizumi-san said was attraction. In fact… there were times, late at night, where that feeling made her... well, she did research. She was blushing throughout, the only reason she felt safe enough to search for it was because she was used to viewing things through a VPN. It’s not like she hadn’t THOUGHT about sex before, but it was mostly clinical… or Natsumi-chan’s lack of a filter.

She knew, deep down, what it meant… but she couldn’t give up Fuyuhiko-kun and her whole life so easily, right? Just because she was more attracted to Kirumi-san than him… They had a whole history her and Kirumi-san couldn’t match. It still felt like she’d go back to Fuyuhiko-kun at the end of the year, but there was a small part of her that, well, wasn’t looking forward to it.

They’d been sitting in Kirumi-san’s room, just relaxing, when Kirumi spoke up suddenly.

“Hey. I’ve been thinking about something.” She was laying on the bed while Peko was on her couch, so she couldn’t see her face, but the tone was hesitant, “Do you know why I appreciated being a maid in the first place?”

“You… It’s because you like helping people.” Peko states easily.

“Correct.” she didn’t talk for a moment or two, almost as though she were trying to say something embarassing, “Do you… Do you think I would make a good politician?”

“Politician, really?” She asked, surprised for a moment before thinking about it… Kirumi-san did care about people. She wanted to help everyone, even people she personally found distasteful like Kokichi-kun. She didn’t appreciate the comparison, but she honestly acted like the mother figure for the dorms. However, she was wickedly smart. She won’t bow to anyone, if they’re actively working against her. She’s almost too prideful, but that’s because she knows how good she is.

“Now that you mention it, I can completely see it.” Peko nods easily, “You have the caring nature that would allow you to do the right thing for the people in your district, as well as the cunning to make sure that you can overcome any obstacle. I would vote for you above anyone else, even Fuyuhiko-kun.”

“...I… I don’t know why…” Kirumi sits up and her eyes are glistening, “As of this year, I’ve been praised a lot, especially by our teachers, but whenever you do it… it feels really nice.” She starts dusting invisible dust off of her dress, her face… beautiful.

“Um… I wanted to say something to you.” Peko blurts out, wondering where her courage came from, “I’ve… I’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks now. You know how I always meant to go back to Fuyuhiko-kun at the end of the year? So we could work together and… be together?” She quiets for a moment and stands up, kneeling in front of Kirumi, “Ever since that day in the mall… I’ve felt this feeling, that I had no idea what it meant. I had to ask someone else…” 

“What… what is it?” Kirumi-san, eyes focused solely on hers.

“I… I’m… attracted to you, Kirumi-s-” She stops before saying the honorific, “You’re so beautiful… but more than that, you’re an amazing individual. Selfless, respectful, caring. I could talk for hours about you and not say a single bad thing. I wasn’t excited to come here in the first place, thinking I was just going to be friendless and alone, except for Fuyuhiko-kun, all this time. Now, though? I feel like I have friends, I feel like I can have a relationship with Fuyuhiko that’s more equal than it ever would be. It feels like… meeting you, has made my entire life worth living.” As Peko finishes, Kirumi’s eyes are glistening again. Even though she herself is very bad at processing emotions… She feels like she knows what it means.

“I… Oh my…” Kirumi is crying fully now, “I… never thought… this isn’t a dream, right? I’ve had plenty of dreams about this before…”

“No.”

“Oh… That’s good…” Kirumi’s hands reach out, shakily but excitedly, towards hers, “Um… Does this, uh, mean…”

“I…” She grasps Kirumi’s hand and, steel kneeling, kissing one of them, “I want to be your girlfriend.”

“That’s… Oh, I suppose I need to accept first…” She shakes her head to clear the tears away, “I would love to be your girlfriend, Peko Pekoyama.”

She isn’t used to not being able to find the right words to describe something… but that first kiss?

It’s indescribable. 

\------

Nothing changes all that much, much to Peko’s surprise. She still spends her time with her classmates, she still spends her time training. She spends a majority of her time with Kirumi (they only ever kiss infrequently, and only in the safety of the dorms) and Fuyuhiko-kun.

Fuyuhiko-kun…

She feels ridiculous for hiding it. He was… one of the most important people in her life. He deserved to hear the truth from her. He did. She just… didn’t want to say it.

It was only when she was at a park with a bunch of people from 77-B was she able to talk about it at all. Hinata-kun was there, and despite the fact that she wasn’t REALLY supposed to know he was in a similar spot as she was, he also recently made his decision; He and Nanami-san were sitting together, too close to be platonic. Komaeda-san himself had been… weirder than usual this past week as well.

“Hinata-kun? Do you mind if we talk?” She said quietly, “Alone, please.” He was well known for being a great listener, and though she’d never felt the need to use his ear, she knew Fuyuhiko-kun really appreciated him. Therefore, if it was good enough for him, it was good enough for her.

“Oh! Of course, Pekoyama-san.” He leapt up quickly, almost knocking Nanami-san over in the process. Nanami-san gave her her angry look for a moment before smiling genuinely… She really was a great class president.

“Um… I… I don’t know if this was a secret or not, but… I heard you recently had trouble trying to decide between Komaeda-kun and Nanami-san.” Hinata-kun’s face burned red with embarrassment as they moved to a nearby tree and she continued, “I’m sorry if this is too personal…”

“No… No! It was just… well,” He started chuckling, “I didn’t know it was so easy to tell, is all. I mean, I’ve had 4-5 people that I know I never told come up to me and talk to me about it. I thought I was being discreet.” She almost wanted to laugh at his statement… He was quite easy to read. Not that it was a bad thing, of course.

“I was… well, nevermind.” She didn’t want to get Koizumi-san into trouble, “Well, how did you decide?”

“I guess… Well…” He scratched his head as he sat down underneath the shade, “No one’s actually asked me that yet, it’s mostly just been congratulations on picking the better option.”

“Well, my feelings on Komaeda-kun are… easy to tell, but I assume you feel differently. It’d be wrong of me to just assume you share my feelings on him.”

“Yeah… thanks.” He smiles softly, “It was partially because… Well, is it wrong to say that part of the reason why was everyone else? Not to say that I made the decision because of society, or anything, but it was always much easier to hang out and flirt with Chiaki.” He shrugs, “Unfortunately, Japan being what it is… Saionji-san and Koizumi-san are still hiding their relationship, and they’ve been together for 5 months.”

“Ah, you know of them.” She remarks.

“Well… I was sort of Mahiru-san’s listening board. I didn’t mind, of course, but she felt so bad complaining that she apologized right after they got together.” He rolls his eyes with a smile, “Saionji-san is pretty nice too once you hang out with her for a while.”

“Huh.” She wouldn’t agree, but he also was close to dating Komaeda-kun, so… maybe they had different values.

“Well anyway, we just… hung out a lot more, because of that. Things happened, and… I love them both, you know? Just because I chose Chiaki-chan doesn’t mean I don’t care about Nagito-kun just as much. It’s just different now.” His eyes twinkle and he continues, “Fuyuhiko-kun will understand, you know. He’s more afraid of getting into a relationship with you under unfair circumstances than anything else. He’ll be sad, but he’ll understand. Especially since it’s someone as amazing as Tojo-san.”

“You… You know?” Her eyes dance around, looking for eavesdroppers.

“Of course! I mean, not that I saw you guys all that much, but Fuyuhiko’s mentioned you and her hang out a lot. I just had a feeling, I guess.” He shrugs, as thought it’s not a big deal, “I mean, you and Tojo-san do kind of fit together. You’re both so… proper, I guess? I’d say aloof, but that’s a little unfair.”

“So… he’ll be alright about it? Do you know?” She asks baldly.

“I mean, yeah. He loves you just as much as you love him. Just don’t hide it TOO long, okay?” Hinata-kun stood up and shook the grass off his pants, “He’ll understand. Trust me.”

Hinata-kun understood people better than anyone else she knew, and he does hang out with Fuyuhiko-kun a lot. Trusting him over her fear honestly seems like the safest move. So as she gets back to the giant picnic, she takes a deep breath and pokes Fuyuhiko-kun on the shoulder.

“Hey, Peko.” He says easily, eyes tearing away from the conversation he was having with Soda-kun and Nidai-kun, “What’s up?”

“Um… I need to tell you something.” She states awkwardly, noticing the stares given to her by Soda-kun, Hinata-kun and Koizumi-san (just because those last two are sympathetic, doesn’t mean they’re any easier to deal with).

His face falls for a moment before he sighs and leans back against the grass, “I… I can figure it out. If you need to tell me, tell me, but…I don’t know if you’d want that to be out in the open.”

“I’m sorry.” She is, she really is, but she isn’t at the same time. She’s extremely grateful to him, and she loves him more than she did at the start of the year. It was the distance that made her appreciate him so much more. Just… in a different way, then she assumed.

“Don’t be, okay?” He says gruffly, ignoring the confused looks he was getting from people, “Why do you think I had the clan end your contract to begin with? You always deserved to be more than my bodyguard. You’re so goddamn amazing. You’re my best fucking friend in the whole world.”

She’s tearing up, and she’s almost cursing how emotional she’s gotten in the past week… Though there’s no reason she should feel that way, as that week was full of more emotions than she’s ever dealt with before.

“Thank you, Fuyuhiko.” She kneels down and smiles directly into his face, “You’re… You’re my best friend too. Do I get a broken cup, like Hinata-kun?” She glances over at Hinata-kun, who’s stopped watching her to watching Nanami-san play her game.

“That? No way, you’re classier than that.” He huffs as he sits up, “Well, if we’re best friends… I want to meet Tojo-san properly. I need to make sure she’s good enough for you.”

“Don’t threaten her.” She says firmly, “I’m quite capable of avenging myself should I require it.”

“Ah, I know that.” He waves one of his hands in front of his face, “I just… want to make sure.” He wants to see it for himself. They’ve never hung out together, mostly because of her. Before, it was because she didn’t want to order her boss around, but now it was mostly because of the conflicting feelings she was… feeling.

“I’ll ask her.” She nods and sits down next to him. She spends the rest of the day being with her friends, and enjoying herself immensely. Even though graduation isn’t for another 4 months… It feels like it’s already happened, and she has to plan the rest of her life.

It’s quite exciting, looking forward to an uncertain future.


End file.
